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20 Mar 2011

Jody McIntyre 'war is peace'

The war-mongerers are at it again, or the peace-mongerers should I say? That is why we should bomb Libya; to tear down the tyrant Gaddafi, to establish peace and to ‘liberate’ the Libyan people.

The Bahraini government destroyed the Pearl Roundabout this week, hoping to erase the stain of the uprising from it’s memory, but thousands continue to march in the villages of Sitra and Daih, mourning their dead from a bloody crackdown. The Saudi occupying army set up check-points and road-blocks whenever they like; Al Jazeera aren’t so keen anymore, because Qatari forces are also there. In Yemen, President Saleh was responsible for a massacre of his people in Sanaa, the capital. The following day, protesters were shot at and killed in Aden. None of these actions will result in foreign intervention – except, of course, for intervention aimed to keep the rulers in power, as is the case in Bahrain.

I cannot celebrate the establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya, because we have seen, and are seeing, what it will lead to. Make no mistake, this is the launch of a war on Libya. And we all know why; Libya has one thing that the people of Bahrain and Yemen don’t, oil.

Of course, I fully support the Libyan people, who have risen up to throw off the chains of the Gaddafi dictatorship. They were inspired by the revolutionaries in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt, not by the states currently offering to help, the same states who sold Gaddafi the weapons they now fear are so dangerous. They have resisted so bravely, and inspired us all in the process. But bombing the country will not ‘liberate’ them.

Imagine if we’d seen a solution based on an army of revolutionaries crossing across the borders from Tunisia and Egypt, fresh from their own revolutions, to support their Libyan brothers and sisters. Instead we have British, American and French military armies, imposing their will by brute force.

2 comments:

Captain Haddock
said...

"I cannot celebrate the establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya, because we have seen, and are seeing, what it will lead to. Make no mistake, this is the launch of a war on Libya. And we all know why; Libya has one thing that the people of Bahrain and Yemen don’t, oil."

Firstly, Bahrain does have oil. Secondly, why on earth would anyone wage an oil war against Libya? They're quite happy to sell it - they only recently signed a deal with BP after all. As usual, the left are obsessed with oil. They seem to think that if Libya flogs its oil to Italy, then we are losing out. Oil is a fungible resource - look it up.

HOWEVER. In your essential point, you are correct. This is yet another neo-con (read neo-jacobin)inspired loony mission to try and remake the rest of the world in the west's image - and once again it won't work.

I really do wish you'd tell Rupert Read this though, a few days ago in reply to his Libcon article describing an NFZ as a "non-violent option" I wrote:

"Well Rupert you old chickenhawk you, I suspect that if a NFZ is authorised you’ll be complaining when Libyan civilians get killed – which they will. Any effective policing of an NFZ will mean not just poncing about flying planes in Libyan airspace, but will need to attack ground based anti-aircraft systems too. You can bet your ass that if Ghaddafi has half a brain he’ll stick a bunch of civilians in those to ensure that you kill ‘em off. Then watch the Libyan people turn against you.

Btw, do you remember the Somali capers when aid agencies asked the US military to ensure that aid could be delivered? Do you remember the handwringing from the same agencies when the US forces had to shoot people in order to get the supplies through? Do you remember the agencies saying things like “but we didn’t want you to SHOOT people”? I do!

Liberals must remember that when the military take action, it necessarily means that people will get killed – and those responsible for the deaths aren’t the military, but rather those who call for them to be sent in without understanding what the job entails."

Rupert's response was:

"@46 I’m not a liberal."

Says it all really!

Now, what's the Green Party line on this debacle? I do hope it's closer to your line than to his!

'Imagine if we’d seen a solution based on an army of revolutionaries crossing across the borders from Tunisia and Egypt, fresh from their own revolutions, to support their Libyan brothers and sisters. Instead we have British, American and French military armies, imposing their will by brute force.'

As it happens I agree that this military response is not right. However to call for a violent revolution instead of surgical air strikes is a bit loony. Revolutions tend to kill millions and lead to tyrannies, look at history.

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About Me

I am a green activist, writer and economist. Three kids, live in Winkfield. Live low impact on the land in my trailer, I am a Green Party local councillor. Ecosocialist and fan of Elinor Ostrom, have worked closely with the Peruvian indigenous leader Hugo Blanco to fight.